100 Themes Challenge ShinRan
by FlameDiadem
Summary: In the universe of Detective Conan, Shinichi and Ran both have feelings that they have been unable to express. These are 100 stories written to 100 themes about the couple. Rated T for possible later themes.
1. Theme 1: Introduction

Theme One: Introduction

Looking back on it, Ran Mouri couldn't exactly pinpoint the moment that she had met Shinichi Kudo. It was more that he had always been in her life. Their parents had always put them in a room to play while they talked, and they had always grown up as friends. Ran, up until a few months ago, would have told anyone that she couldn't imagine life without Shinichi. It wasn't just how she felt about him – although that was part of it too – but also that he had always been a fixture in her life. At least, he had been until that night when the little boy named Conan Edogawa had come into her life.

Their introduction to each other was one that she remembered all too clearly. The night that Shinichi had run off with just a call over his shoulder that he would catch up to her, the night that he vanished into the darkness that he never really returned from, when she walked into Shinichi's house to find Agasa-hakase and the boy who looked so much like _him_… The boy with huge blue eyes behind those glasses…

He had seemed so scared of her at first as she approached him. Ran remembered clearly the looks that he had been throwing at Agasa-hakase, almost like pleas for help when she was asking him questions about himself. And when she asked his name, he had acted so shy. At the time, she had thought it was the cutest thing she'd ever seen. And then his name had been so _odd_. She'd never heard of a name anything like Conan before. But she had accepted it and taken him in. After that first introduction, he had become like a little brother to her. Soon, he had become almost as much of a fixture as Shinichi had been. It was almost like having him there. She sighed, remembering it. Conan had been such a help to her these past months, it was hard to believe…

"…Ran? Oi, Ran!" Ran jumped as the voice that came through her phone startled her out of her reflections.

"Ah – sorry Shinichi! I was just thinking about… well, kind of about you. And about Conan."

"About me… and Conan?" Shinichi sounded nervous. "Like what kinds of thoughts?"

"Oh, I was just remembering when I met Conan," Ran told him with a smile, leaning back in her seat. "Not a really big deal." She looked at the ceiling. "Say Shinichi… do you remember when we met?"

"Baka, we were little kids," Shinichi told her. "How on earth do you expect me to remember that?"

"I guess it was a silly question," she admitted.

"Well then, here's a question for you," Shinchi told her, a note of teasing in his voice. "What on earth does us meeting have to do with Conan?"

"Oh, nothing really. Seriously, Shinichi, I think I was just spacing out." Ran sighed. She paused, then asked the question she'd been trying to avoid during the conversation. "Shinichi… speaking of questions… are you ever going to be able to tell me anything about the case you're on? Anything at all?"

"Ran…" Shinichi sighed. "I wish that I could, believe me." He hesitated a moment, then said, "When I come home, I promise that I'll tell you everything. I promise."

Shinichi closed his phone and sat back on his bed, where he had been calling Ran from. Unbidden, his thoughts turned to the question she had asked him. Had she really expected him to remember when they first met? He frowned. No, they had been too little to remember anything. They had always been friends; surely she knew that much. Then he let out a sigh. He might not remember the first time that they met, but he could certainly remember when he had to introduce himself to her the second time.

There were really no words for the panic that had rushed through him when Ran had asked him his name. In those seconds, he had had to create a whole new identity for himself. In introducing himself to Ran as Conan, it was almost as though Shinichi had vanished. He closed his eyes for a moment, fighting down emotions that were rising inside of him. Then he opened his eyes again. They gleamed with determination.

"Just wait, Ran," he said quietly. "When I come back, I'll introduce myself to you again. And this time, I'll show you both sides of me – Shinichi _and_ Conan."

"Conan-kun!" Ran's voice called. "What are you doing in there?"

"Ah – just some homework, Ran-neechan!" he called back, hastily sitting up and grabbing his glasses, which he had removed.

"Well, if you're almost finished, why don't you come help me with dinner?"

"Haaaai!" Slipping his glasses onto his nose, Shinichi jumped off the bed and ran down the hall, a small smile on his face.

_Just you wait, Ran. Just wait a little longer. I promise._

_**Author's Note**_

_So this is my first time publishing Detective Conan fanfiction… I have several stories running around on my computer, but those are not suitable for the public eyes…. Anyhow, I am going to try and write the entire 100 themes challenge for the ShinRan pairing, AND finish up my HP story, AND work on a story that I'm writing with my sister… yes I am insane… Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story! Please leave reviews!_

_PS – Sorry that the first two themes are so short! I'll try to do better in the future! _


	2. Theme 2: Love

Theme Two: Love

She's beautiful when she smiles.

It's something that I've always wanted to tell her, but never have. Trust me, it's not the only thing on the list either. There's so many things that I should have told her before that I haven't been able to now that I'm living with her as Conan. It's kind of ironic; in living closer to her than ever before, I'm unable to tell her the things that would make us truly close.

But today… today has been different. I've seen that beautiful smile of hers all day today, and not from Conan's angle either. Standing taller than her, knowing that it would only take a few steps to be able to pull her into my arms… the temptation's been there all day. I know that my time is running out. I only have an hour left with her, if that. I know I should say something. Not just anything, either; there's one thing that I know I have to tell her, before it's too late.

"You're being awfully quiet," Ran says to me, peering into my face. I jump a little, and she laughs. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Ah, it's okay, I was just thinking," I tell her. Her eyes grow gentle as she looks at me, a soft smile on her face that makes my face grow warm.

"Always thinking," she teases me. "Shinichi, don't you ever take a break from analyzing everything?"

"Hey! I do!" I protest. She laughs again, her face slightly pink tinged in the light of the sunset. Then her face grows more serious as she turns towards the horizon, looking at that same sunset over the water. I walk up to stand next to her.

"Now you're being quiet," I tell her softly.

"It's just… it's getting late, isn't it," she says back just as quietly. "Which means… you're going to have to leave again."

"Yeah," I say regretfully. I hate the look of pain that crosses her face, the sadness that she tries to hide behind a smile.

"Well! At least today was really fun," she tells me, turning and stretching her arms above her head. "Should we head back?" She begins to walk away, and I feel a moment of panic. The moment's getting away from me. Ran's right, there's very little time left, but I can't leave today without telling her.

"Ran!" Her name slips out from between my lips before I even have time to think. She turns to look at me, obviously startled. I can feel my face flushing again, but now that I've started, I know I can't stop.

"Um," I say. "I – you – I mean…" I take a deep breath. "I have something that I need to say to you today." She turns fully towards me now, her hair blowing in a light wind, her eyes reflecting the sunset. She looks surprised.

"And… what's that?" she asks me, her voice oddly breathless. I take a step forward towards her.

"Every day… every day that I'm not here, I think about this," I tell her, trying to keep my voice steady. "All the time, Ran. It's just… it's what keeps me going, even through everything." I take another step forward, reaching out and gently brushing some hair out of her eyes. Her breath catches as she gazes up at me, her eyes sparkling.

"Shinichi…?" she whispers. I gather all my courage and finally manage to blurt it out.

"I love you, Ran." More… more then anyone else in this world." I close my eyes, feeling my cheeks turning red. I've said these words to her before, although she has no idea. There's a moment of silence, a silence that begins to full me with worry until I feel a gentle touch on my cheek. I look down into Ran's eyes, startled to see tears there.

"Ran…?" I ask, unsure of what to say. She smiles up at me, a smile full of so much emotion that it makes my heart skip a beat.

"Shinichi… I love you too," she whispers to me. "I always have, no matter what." she reaches up and wraps her arms around my neck, gently brushing her lips against mine. I close my eyes, losing the world around us in the moment of her being there. My arms come up to her waist, drawing her close to me. Inside my chest, there's a warm and happy feeling that's impossible to ever fully describe. When she draws back, I reach up and brush the tears off of her cheek. We smile at each other.

"You're beautiful when you smile," I whisper. "This is how I always want to remember you, Ran. Smiling. Try not to cry?"

"It's hard when you're always gone, you idiot," she tells me, her voice with a touch of anger in it. Then she shakes her head and smiles at me, putting a finger over my lips as I start to open my mouth to speak. She shakes her head at me. "I'm not angry. Well… not really angry." She moves her hand now to cup my cheek. "I'll wait for you, Shinichi. That's what love is. I'm always here for you, no matter what happens."

"Ran…" I stared at her for a moment, then smiled. "Thank you." As we lean in for another kiss, it doesn't matter how much time I have left, or that I know that she won't be able to see me for a long time to come. For now, all that matters is that I'm here with the most beautiful woman in the world; a woman who loves me every bit as much as I love her.


	3. Theme 3: Light

Theme Three: Light

"I'm sorry, Ran," Shinichi whispered. They sat back to back in a dark room, wrists chained together. He could just barely reach down and brush her hand with his fingers, but he didn't dare to do so. After what he had just told her, he wasn't sure of anything anymore. He looked down at the floor, feeling the weight of the silence that stretched between them.

"So…" Ran said at last, her voice unreadable, "Let me see if I have this straight." He winced. This didn't sound like a good start.

"Okay," he said nervously.

"All this time you've been gone, you've been living in my house – in my _house_, Shinichi – as Conan," Ran said, her voice breaking a little. "And not only that, you've been trying to hunt down the organization that did this to you while still in the body of a little kid. And not only _that_, but you've been resisting telling others or asking for help because you didn't want to put anyone in danger." She paused. "Do I have that part right?"

"I – yeah, more or less," Shinichi mumbled. There was another stretch of silence.

"And now… these people have captured us?" Ran asked quietly.

"It's looking that way," Shinichi said softly. "Ran, I'm so _sorry_, I just asked Haibara for a temporary antidote because I wanted to see you so badly, but now-" He broke off, feeling Ran's fingers reach out to brush his. He cautiously, gently, reached out to brush back. "Ran…?"

"I'm not angry," she said quietly. "Well, a little, I guess. But if this is the last time… the last time I have to be with you, Shinichi, I don't want to spend it angry." Shinichi let out a deep, shaky sigh, trying to hold back the panic and tears that he wanted so desperately to let out. There was the possibility he had been trying to avoid – after this, they both might die.

"Shinichi…" Ran whispered. "I don't regret anything, you know. I love you… I always have." She blushed, then jerked her head upward as Shinichi suddenly spasmed. She gasped and tried to look over her shoulder. "Sh – Shinichi? What's going on… Shinichi!" He was doubled over now, panting hard. She felt his fingers growing hot in hers.

"Ran…" He struggled to sit up and looked back at her as best he could, his face flushed. He gave her a weak smile. "I love you too," he told her, voice cracked, before giving another gasp and doubling over again.

"Shinichi! What's – " Ran's eyes widened as she suddenly realized. "Shinichi," she whispered urgently. "Is it your antidote?"

"I… think so, yeah," he gasped. "Sorry Ran, I have… the worst timing, huh?"

"No!" Ran cried, then hushed her voice, remembering that they were captives. "No, Shinichi. I know that it hurts, but this might work. If your antidote's wearing off, then you're going to shrink again! And the chains…" Shinichi's eyes widened, and then he grinned through the pain.

"Gotcha," He said, before biting back a scream and squeezing his eyes shut. Ran tried to grab for his fingers, but they slid out of her reach as they grew smaller. She stared as smoke rose from his body and his body writhed, changing shape. She wanted so badly to be able to hold him, to help him through this pain. It was all still so unbelievable to her, but she needed to be able to help him when he was in pain.

There was a slight clink of chains as Shinichi fell forward, his now small wrists slipping from the bonds. He lay on the floor, breathing deeply, eyes closed. Just when Ran was starting to worry that he was unconscious, he struggled and managed to sit up. He looked down at his now oversized clothes ruefully, then sighed and looked at Ran, his eyes apologetic.

"I'm sorry," he told her again. She shook her head, trying to resist the tears gathering in her eyes.

"It's all right," she whispered. "As long as you're okay."

"More or less," he said with a sigh. "Just a minute, I'll get you out of there." Ran turned away with a blush as he began to remove some of his oversized clothes. Then, she started slightly as she felt small hands gently touching hers. She turned to see Shinichi's young features looking at her gently. He was now wearing only his T-shirt from before, and it hung almost down to his ankles. She smiled back at him.

"I trust you," she said simply. He nodded and began to work quietly at the chains around her wrists. In a few minutes, she felt them slide from her wrists. He laid them gently on the floor without a sound. Ran rose slowly, rubbing at her wrists. She looked around at the room – the attic, really – that they had been confined in. She didn't see an immediate way out, but from the look on Shinichi's face he was thinking about it. She had faith in her detective. With a smile, she reached down and began to gather the clothes he had discarded, folding them up so that they could take them with them.

"Shinichi?" she asked, looking towards him once she had everything.

"I think I know what we're going to do," he told her, his voice so much like it was when he had been older that she was startled momentarily. "If I remember from what I saw when we were brought up here, we're on the top level on the building. I think there's some kind of storage below us, and I bet they have spare clothes in there. If we can get down there, we can get some outfits and quite possibly disguise materials to help us get out."

"But what about you?" Ran asked nervously. "They likely won't have anything… um… in your particular… size." He looked up at her, his face grim.

"They recruit children, Ran," he said softly. "I'm sure they'll have something." Ran shuddered.

"How do you plan to get out without being seen?" she asked. "They set guards right below us, didn't they?" she pointed at the trapdoor in the floor.

"Exactly," Shinichi said with a grin. "And they're counting on those guards." Ran blinked at him.

"I'm not sure I follow."

"If we can take out the guards – there should only be two or so – before they can give the alarm, then no one will suspect anything," he explained.

"But how are we going to do that?" Ran crouched down so that she and Shinichi were on the same level. "I can use my karate, but that would take too long."

"We'll use this." Shinichi held up something. Ran squinted at it in the dim light.

"Is that…"

"It's not an actual pen," Shinichi explained. "It's one of the things Agasa-hakase made for me, it's pretty new. I brought it with me just in case today."

"So what does it do?" Ran asked, curious.

"It's full of sleeping gas," he told her. "If we use this, they'll all fall asleep before they know what's happening. We'll be able to run for the storage room." Ran nodded.

"All right." Shinichi opened the trap door just a crack and squeezed the tip of the pen into the opening. Then, he clicked the trigger. There was a very slight hiss as the gas moved down into the room. After a few minutes, Shinichi peered through the crack.

"All clear," he told Ran in a whisper. They quickly dropped down into the room below. Ran followed Shinichi, who was moving as quickly and quietly as possible in his current state of dress. He led her into a room labeled "STORAGE". She shut the door after them and started at the room. There were costumes, disguises, weapons, and many other things that she couldn't identify in the room. Shinichi stared too, then shook his head.

"Need to keep moving," he muttered. He stood on the tips of his toes to reach the door and lock it. Then he began to root around in the room. He tossed Ran a black dress, coat, and pair of heels. Ran stared at them.

"Shinichi…" she said, a blush rising on her face.

"I know, they're going to be tight," he said, looking up at her with a blush. "But that's all the kinds of clothes they have here." He moved a little further back and pulled out a child-sized pair of black pants and a long sleeved shirt, along with a black baseball cap. He glanced back at Ran.

"I'll go change over there," he said pointing to the other end of the room. "Uh… let me know when you're done." His cheeks were red as he turned and walked hastily away. Ran shook her head with a slight smile, then quickly changed.

"Shinichi, I'm done," she whispered as loudly as she dared.

"Just give me a minute," he responded, sounding embarrassed. "I'm still kind of stiff from shrinking again." Ran smiled gently, then looked around. It wouldn't hurt to explore a little. She began to walk around a little, careful to avoid where Shinichi was. She found a long, straight wig with red hair. She experimented, sliding it over her hair. Looking around, she saw a box labeled "MIRRORS". She walked over and opened it, pulling out the mirror on top to look at herself. She giggled a little at how the wig made her look, then blinked. There was something else in the box, something that wasn't a mirror at all. She reached in and picked it up, frowning. Then her eyes widened.

"Shinichi?" she asked softly, her voice trembling.

"Ran?" Shinichi sounded concerned. "Is there something wrong?" He hurried around a rack of dresses, then stopped and looked at the look on her face. "What is it?" he asked. She simply handed him the small silver container that she had found. He looked at it, then stared, his own eyes widening.

"This is…" Ran smiled at him.

"Let's get out of here," she told him, holding out her hand. He shook his head to clear it, then smiled up at her, a furious triumph blazing in his eyes.

"Let's," he said, putting his hand in hers. He slid the box into the bag he had placed their old clothes in, then pulled at her hand. "There's a window out here we can escape through," he told her. "I found some rope."

"All right," Ran said. In a few minutes, they had slid down the rope and landed on the ground. They began to run away from the building they had been held in, both of them laughing in the light from the sun. The box that Shinichi had in his bag made the light seem to represent a new hope. They now had not only information about where the Organization was – they also had three little pills labeled with APTX 4869.

Life had never looked so optimistic.

_**Author's Note**_

_Okay, so this had very little to do with light… I kind of wanted to represent them escaping from the darkness into the light, both literally and in their attitudes towards life… Yeah… it came out sort of lame_

_Next theme is Dark_


	4. Theme 4: Dark

Theme Four: Dark

I just had to find out after it was all over and done with. You stupid detective idiot, you didn't even let me hear it from you. Although I guess that wasn't really your fault… or not exactly, anyway. But it makes me hurt so much inside, to know all the things that went unsaid between us. Things that will never get said, now.

It's tomorrow, you know. Kaa-san picked out a black dress for me to wear. Everyone will be there – Hattori, Kazuha-chan, Inspector Megure… I suspect even Kid will be there in one form or another, knowing him. A lot of people cared for you. Still care for you, now that you're gone. But I doubt anyone cares as much as I do. I don't even know if it's possible for them to.

Sonoko says it's all going to be all right someday. She says eventually I'll find someone new. That's what she says, but the look in her eyes as she smiles hopefully at me tell me a different story. Even she knows it's not going to be okay this time. She's really a good friend, you know, even if you two didn't always see eye to eye. I think she still just can't quite believe it's happened. I don't blame her.

I like to think that you're still here somewhere, listening to me. I don't think that someone with a heart as strong as yours could just vanish. There's a song like that somewhere… I think it was in that one American movie. _Titanic_, that's the one. I really do think that's true. Even if you're gone… Even if I'll never see those blue eyes twinkle as they smile at me the way only you could… I think that your heart goes on. In me, if nothing else.

There are so many things I regret now. Things I should have seen, should have been able to figure out. It makes me sad when I think of them. And then there are the things that I feel you should have told me, and those make me angry. But mostly I just feel empty. Empty in a way that I'm not sure can ever be filled. It's a scary feeling, but there's nothing I can do.

If I sit quietly like this, I can almost imagine you're here. That corner there could almost conceal your dark hair, your eyes that always softened when you looked at me, the smile that always sent shivers up my spine. You could just be waiting there to surprise me, trying to keep me in suspense. I can imagine the mischievous glint in your eyes as you think of the way I would jump, the way I would hit you at first and then apologize, just like we always used to do before all this started. I almost expect to hear your voice whispering to me in the darkness, telling me what I've always wanted to hear.

_I love you, Ran._

And then I respond, whispering into the dark, believing that somehow, some way, you can hear me.

"I love you too, Shinichi. Always."

_**Author's Note**_

_Short and angsty all in one… what's gotten into me tonight? Sorry for oddness…_

_Next theme is Seeking Solace_


	5. Theme 5: Seeking Solace

Theme Five: Seeking Solace

Truth is something that hurts. This is something that Shinichi Kudo had come to believe over his time as Conan Edogawa. The idea that he could tell the truth to anyone became something foreign. He had always held that there was only one truth. He still thought this. But at the same time, he'd seen too many people hurt through the truth, in cases he'd solved and in his personal life. But there was one truth that he knew would hurt more than any other if it got out.

So he kept all his truths, his real emotions, everything under a lock in his heart. He was living more and more of a lie each day, even with people who truly knew who he was. He couldn't be honest with anyone, even himself, because the truth hurt. He solved cases as though it was an everyday thing, not really thinking. It was more and more of a struggle, a lie, every single moment spent in his life as Conan. He thought that a good enough act would keep people from questioning him.

He underestimated, however, the determination of Ran Mouri.

Ran noticed with growing alarm the emotional withdrawal of Conan-kun. She didn't know how to handle it as she saw him treat both the people around him and the events he encountered with growing detachment. She had long suspected that the murder cases he was constantly exposed to weren't healthy for a young boy. And yet, as more time went by, she realized with puzzlement that this didn't seem to be the problem. It was as though Conan-kun was holding something else inside, like a secret. And she wondered.

Then came the second clue.

She was sitting in her room when she received a call from Shinichi. She hadn't heard from him in a while, so she was happy and grateful to hear that he was all right. After they had been talking for a while, she began to hesitantly confide her worries about Conan-kun to Shinichi. He was quiet for a moment, then said in a flat tone of voice that made her shiver that he was sure Conan was fine.

"Shinichi, how can you say it like that?" Ran asked, shocked. "I mean, Conan-kun is your cousin! If something's wrong…"

"Nothing's wrong, Ran," Shinichi said in that same detached way. "He's probably just seen life for what it actually is. Like I have." There was a moment of silence between them, and then Shinichi changed the subject, his voice back to its usual cheerfulness. And yet Ran, now really listening, could tell that it wasn't genuine. She was sure now that something was wrong with Shinichi as well.

And then she really began to wonder.

So one night, after Conan had gone to bed and her father had passed out on the couch, Ran decided that she couldn't just sit still while something like this went on under her nose. She had to do something. So she walked determinedly down the hall and opened Conan's door. The boy was, to all appearances, sleeping peacefully. His eyes were closed, and his breathing deep and even. Ran, however, knew better. Conan-kun might think he'd hidden it from her, but she knew that he had been having insomnia issues lately. So she sat down gently on the edge of his bed and brushed his hair out of his face with a soft touch. His eyelids fluttered, and he looked up at her, his eyes questioning.

"I'm not going to ask you anything," Ran said quietly. "I'm not going to yell, I'm not going to accuse. But I'm going to tell you something that I think you need to hear right now… both of you."

Shinichi felt an odd combination of fear and a sort of thrill pass through his body as Ran looked into his eyes. He shuddered physically, not prepared for the wash of emotion. He had separated himself from his feelings so much that this was…

"It's okay," Ran said, her voice slightly shaking as she smiled at him, her eyes shining in the moonlight streaming through the window. "I… it's okay. Because it has to be. So you don't have to worry."

"Ran…" Shinichi whispered, his voice cracking along with the mask he had been putting forward to the world. "I…"

"I said I had something that you needed to hear," Ran said with a deep breath. "And… I meant that." She looked him dead in the eyes now, a look of determination that made his throat catch on her face. "There's only one truth. You've told me that enough times. And yes, sometimes… sometimes the truth can hurt other people when they're told. Or when they find out. But at the same time, if you hold the truth inside and can't tell others, you end up only hurting yourself." She blinked, a single crystalline tear sliding down her cheek. "Isn't that right?" she whispered. "…Shinichi?"

"I… Ran…" Shinichi stared up at her. He suddenly realized that tears were flowing down his own face. He sat up slowly, still staring at her, trying to stop the tears. But they just kept coming. And at last, the barriers he had built up came crashing down. He fell forward, shoulders shaking, clinging to Ran. Her arms came down around him softly, comfortingly.

"I… I didn't… I never…" He hiccupped, past the point of embarrassment. He didn't know what to do, or where to even begin. Thankfully, Ran seemed to know what he needed.

"It's all right," She said softly, leaning her head against the top of his. "It's all right, Shinichi. I know." Her own tears fell onto his hair as she shut her eyes, a smile on her face. "You're not alone, Shinichi. You never had to be in the first place."


	6. Theme 6: Break Away

Theme Six: Break Away

"…So I can't make you change your mind?" Shinichi asked, looking up at her. Ran felt a twinge in her chest, but shook her head with a determined look on her face.

"This… all of this has just been too much for me." She turned away from him and reached out to brush the heavy curtains on the windows in the Kudo library.

"I… I hope you know that I never wanted this to happen," Shinichi said quietly. "Hurting you, trying to take down a whole organization… just…" Ran turned her head slightly to see him wave his good arm around in a helpless sort of gesture. He was sitting at the desk in the library, one arm in a sling and crutches leaning beside him. He was expected to make a full recovery from his encounter with the Black Organization – the one that had ended in their downfall – but it would take a while. On an impulse, Ran grabbed the curtains in front of her and flung them open, letting sunlight stream through them into the room. She turned towards Shinichi, spreading her arms out wide.

"There's so much in this world, Shinichi. Things I haven't seen that I want to see. I've been in a rut lately, it feels like. And now… I just need to take time on my own. See some things, learn some things." She turned into the sun, closing her eyes and stretching.

"I guess…" Shinichi said slowly, "That makes sense, Ran. Even if I didn't mean to, I've been holding you back this past year. And that's not fair for you." She looked back to see him smiling sadly at her. "I guess that you need to be able to move on."

"Baka," Ran said softly, walking over to him. She gently brushed her lips against his forehead. "I'm not going to forget you, you know. How could I _ever_ forget you and move on from… from this?" She smiled down into his face. "Think of it this way. I waited for you, Shinichi. Now… now it's your turn to wait for me." Shinichi blinked up at her, his cheeks pink, then smiled.

"I guess that's only fair," he said. "But… I'm going to miss you, Ran."

"I won't be gone for long," Ran told him with a mock glare. "It's only a semester abroad, you know. And it's not like I'll be gone." She reached down and tapped his chest. "I'll be right here, won't I?"

"Yeah," Shinichi said, gently touching his hand to hers. "You always have been."

A few days later, Ran stood in the airport with her parents, Sonoko, and Shinichi. It was only slightly awkward at first – Ran's parents had not taken the news of Conan's identity well – but that soon dissipated as they said their good-byes. At last, it was time for Ran to board her flight. She sat nervously in her seat as the flight attendant talked about the protocol for the flight to England. She began to look through her bag to find her phone to shut it off, then paused. There was a slip of paper in there that she didn't remember. She pulled it out and unfolded it, recognizing Shinichi's handwriting in an instant.

_Ran_

_The time's finally come for you to break away. You've always had the desire to follow your dreams, and now you have the ability to finally do it. So go out there and get it done – grow your own wings and take flight. Know that everyone back here is cheering for you, and we'll always be here. And while you're out there, there's a little something else I included to make sure you remember that there are people who love you._

_Love Always, _

_Shinichi_

Ran stared, her eyes filling with tears despite herself. Then she stared at the last line. _A little something else_… Quickly, she began digging through her bag again until she found a little package wrapped in red paper. She unwrapped it slowly as the engines started. Then, as the wheels left the ground, she lifted up a fine silver chain to stare at the little winged heart pendant on it. She smiled slightly as she heard Shinichi's voice in her mind.

_Fly._


	7. Theme 7: Heaven

Theme Seven: Heaven

Shinichi Kudo wasn't sure he could define heaven. He could certainly define all kinds of hell; he'd been in enough of them in the past year or so. And logically – at least, logically to him – heaven should be the opposite of that. And yet, at the same time, he couldn't imagine what it would be like anymore. At least, not until this moment.

He sat nervously next to Ran on a couch in Agasa-hakase's house. Ran had found out everything the day before by complete accident. She hadn't reached the angry stage, at least not yet. Shinichi had strong suspicions that she was still in shock. Haibara was just finishing explaining her part of the story as clearly and concisely as possible. They all sat there in silence for a minute or two after her tale finished. Everyone in the room had a different expression; Agasa-hakase looked distinctly nervous, Haibara was as expressionless as ever, staring at Ran passively. Shinichi was pretty sure he was going to turn blue from holding his breath. And Ran…

He glanced up at her nervously. She was looking at her lap, her bangs hiding her eyes. He couldn't tell if she was angry or not. Thankfully, her hands were limp rather than in fists. That was a good sign, if a small one. Then, to his shock, he saw a tear slide down her cheek.

"R-Ran?" he asked tentatively, placing a small hand over one of hers gingerly. "I – I'm sorry, Ran, I didn't want to make you cry, I can leave if you need me to now that you know, I just-" Thankfully, she chose that moment to cut off his babbling by pulling him into a tight hug, crying into his hair. He stiffened, feeling his face growing red. "R-Ran?" he squeaked.

"You _idiot_," Ran sobbed. "Idiot, idiot, _idiot_! Why would I want you to leave?" She sniffed. "I just… I wish you would have told me. I could have helped you, this all… all could have been so much easier…" Shinichi reached out a little and put his arms around her waist as far as they would go, forgetting that there were others in the room.

"I know," he said softly, voice choked a little. "I… there were so many times that I cursed myself for later, because they were perfect times to tell you and I let them get away. And more than anyone else I never… I never wanted to hurt you, Ran."

"I know," she told him. "I… well, I can't lie and say I'm not angry." She drew back to look him in the face. "In this case, I think it's impossible to not be at least a little angry. And we'll have to have… a talk… about some of those things later." Shinichi felt the blood drain from his face a little, and he nodded nervously.

_It's more then you expected when this all started,_ he told himself firmly. _So be a man and deal with it._

"_But_," Ran said firmly, "There's something more important than anger right now.

"There is?" Shinichi asked, blinking.

"Yes, you idiot," Ran sighed. "A detective otaku like you should be able to figure it out, shouldn't you?"

"That's not fair!" he began to protest, but Ran reached out and gently placed a finger over his lips.

"I'm just teasing," she said gently. "But there is something else, Shinichi." She smiled at him tremulously. "I missed you, you know. So for now… I'm just happy to have you back."

"Touching as that is," Haibara said dryly, "I have something that might make it even better." Shinichi and Ran jumped apart a little, startled by the interruption of their moment. Shinichi leveled a glare at the diminutive scientist, who merely blinked back at him impassively.

"Sometimes, Kudo-kun, you act like the kid you're supposed to be," she informed him.

"Ah – what did you have to say, Ai-chan?" Ran asked quickly as Shinichi opened his mouth to retort. Haibara nodded approvingly at her.

"By far the more sensible of the pair of you, Mouri-chan. As I was going to say, I have been working in my lab this past week. There have been significant changes in the rate of cellular change in some of my experiments, as I'm sure Hakase could tell you. He has been observing them with me." Shinichi blinked at her, utterly baffled, and she sighed. "In short, Kudo-kun, I think I am almost prepared to create an antidote."

"An… antidote…" Shinichi repeated dumbly, his brain having temporarily shut off. "You mean…"

"Yes, Kudo-kun, that is what I mean." Haibara gave him a small smile. "It will likely be done within the month. It's up for debate how long it will be until you can take it, however, since you don't want to flaunt to the Black Organization that you are still alive." Ran shuddered a little.

"We don't want that," she said fervently, then glared down at Shinichi. "_Do we_?"

"Um… yes?" Shinichi looked up at her, trying to look innocent. She didn't buy it.

"Shinichi Kudo, if you think that I'm going to let you use yourself as bait in this whole thing, you… What on _earth_ inside you would make you think that was even a _remotely_ good idea, after everything that's _already_ happened…" Shinichi winced a little as Ran began to lecture him severely, but soon found himself fighting back a smile. With Ran lecturing him this way, and the amused look on Hakase's face warring with the same worries that Ran was now listing, he almost felt normal again. And if Haibara was right, he _would_ be normal again soon enough – no matter how much Ran lectured him about it.

_This_, Shinichi thought as Ran let out an indignant "Shinichi, are you even listening?", _might just qualify as heaven_.


	8. Theme 8: Innocence

Theme Eight: Innocence

Ran occasionally wondered if her little family was cursed in some way. Every single place they went – it didn't seem to matter where or why – there was some sort of crime, usually a murder done in some horribly, _horribly_ creative way. Which was good for business in the detective agency and all, but it was also disturbing.

At first she had thought it was just her dad. She had decided that maybe, just maybe, if only he went somewhere, she could avoid the scenes of the crimes. But it turned out that it wasn't just her dad. Even Conan-kun, who wasn't even exactly a member of the family, seemed to be afflicted by the curse. That was what really worried Ran.

It was one thing for her father, a former police officer and a professional detective, to be exposed to so many violent crime scenes. Ran herself could manage them; the occasional nightmare didn't worry her too much, as she was always able to practice her karate or something afterwards and manage to calm herself down. Her mother was a lawyer, used to such things. But it was Conan-kun that Ran felt the most concern towards.

He didn't seem to mind the constant exposure to murder and death. He was, in fact, the one who seemed to appreciate it's severity the most, and was always running around after the police and her father, finding little clues on his own. Ran had more than just a suspicion that he wanted to become a police officer or a detective someday himself. It wasn't that she didn't support his ambitions, she really did. After all, he was very much like Shinichi, and he had all the right tools to be very successful.

It was just…

Conan was only _seven_. He was still in first grade, for goodness sake! Kids that age were supposed to be innocent. They were supposed to find entertainment in video games, and movies, and amusement parks and things like that. At least the other members of the Shonen Tantei Dan seemed to have that. But Conan… Conan didn't seem like he enjoyed those things very much. It was almost like he lived for the moments when someone screamed about a dead body, so he could help uncover the culprit.

After about a month of worrying about the affect that so many cases seemed to be having on Conan's childhood, she decided to go talk to Agasa-hakase about it. Her parents had been exposed to cases so many times that she didn't think they were the best people to go to about it. She spilled out all of her fears to him over a cup of tea in his living room.

"I just want him to be able to have a normal childhood, you know? He's like a little brother to me, I don't want him to end up with any kind of mental scarring when he's older because of this," she fretted, turning her teacup in her hands. "And I know that Shinichi was exposed to these things when he was still young, but at least he had his parents around when he was Conan's age to keep him on the sidelines. They knew how to keep him from being too involved, and I just don't know how they did it."

"Ah… I understand your concerns, Ran-kun," Agasa told her in a worried tone. "But Conan is… well, mature for his age. Maybe he can handle it better than most kids. The police also know about the entire group of kids, and they do what they can to keep them from being too involved."

"I know, I know, I just…" Ran sighed. "I wonder if Shinichi would have anything to say about this. He was very much like Conan at that age, so maybe he'd know what to do about it."

"I… suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask, although Shinichi-kun is very busy," Agasa said fretfully. Ran frowned, about to ask what exactly he knew about where Shinichi was, but then changed her mind. Conan-kun was more important for right now. She made a note to ask the professor later as she stood and thanked him for the tea.

Oo_oOo_oOo_oO

Shinichi was, needless to say, surprised when his "Shinichi" phone rang later that night with Ran's number on the screen. Thankfully, he was in his bedroom after dinner, supposedly finishing his homework while in reality working on a case file Hattori had sent over. He decided he was safe enough to answer it.

"Yo, Ran, what's up?"

"Oh!" Ran said in surprise. "I wasn't expecting to actually get ahold of you, I was just going to leave a message…"

"What, you didn't _want_ to talk to me?" Shinichi teased, adjusting his phone. "Because I can always hang up and let you call back to leave a message if you want me to…"

"Baka," Ran said with a sniff. "Of course I wanted to talk to you. It's just such a rare thing anymore that I wasn't going to… you know…"

"I know, I know," he said. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well… it's about Conan," Ran told him. "He's very like you were at that age, so… I thought I'd ask you for some advice about him." Shinichi winced. Had he done something lately to make Ran concerned about him as Conan? He really, really hoped that she wasn't suspecting him again.

"Ah… what sort of advice?" he asked carefully. Ran immediately began talking very quickly.

"It's just that there's all these murders, you know, and he's just a first grader, and I don't want his innocence to just go completely down the drain…" Shinichi tuned her out as a wave of relief washed over him. So _that _was all? She was worried that he wasn't _innocent_ enough? He resisted snorting his contempt of the whole notion only because he knew Ran was still listening.

"…and, well, what do you think I should do?" She asked.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Shinichi told her, trying to keep a serious voice. "I mean, sure he's only a first grader, but from what I've heard those friends of his get into lots of mischief too. And he's already been exposed to the stuff for a while, Ran, I doubt stopping it now is going to… ah… "protect his innocence". Really, I think it would just make him unhappy."

"You think so?" Ran said doubtfully.

"Yes," he told her firmly. "And hey, my parents did that to me and I'm not emotionally scarred. So the kid's probably fine too."

"Well… I guess. I'm still thinking of taking him to see a counselor though…" Shinichi winced. _Oh please no,_ he thought.

"I'm sure if it was necessary the police members would have said something, Ran. They're professionals," he told her.

"That's true… I guess I'll ask them, then," Ran said thoughtfully. "Thanks Shinichi!" She ended the call before he could protest.

_One Week Later…_

"So, Conan. I heard that you… ah… get involved in a lot of police work? Your neechan is very worried, you know. How does that make you feel?"

_Loads better than this,_ Shinichi thought to himself, putting on his cheerful Conan face as Ran and the counselor (who privately reminded him of a vulture) peered at him in concern. _As if this whole being a kid thing wasn't bad enough…_

**Author's Note**

_Randomness for the win! I have some great ideas for later themes, but the ones that come next in order have me stumped a bit, so sorry if updates are a bit sporadic… thanks for reading!_


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